For producing nitride compound semiconductor devices such as LEDs or semiconductor lasers, the functional layers of the device are usually epitaxially deposited on a suitable growth substrate. Sapphire substrates are especially suited for growing nitride compound semiconductor layers thereonto. When a nitride compound semiconductor is heteroepitaxially grown onto sapphire, defects may form in the semiconductor material owing to the lattice mismatch present, which defects may impair the properties of the device.
For a nitride compound semiconductor based device, it has turned out to be advantageous to connect the side of the epitaxial layer sequence which is disposed opposite the growth substrate to a carrier and to subsequently remove the growth substrate therefrom. For removing the growth substrate from a nitride compound semiconductor device, in particular a per se known laser lift-off method can be used. An LED produced in this manner is also referred to as a thin-film LED. In order to improve the coupling-out of radiation, a coupling-out-out structure or a roughened area can be provided on a surface located opposite the carrier.